Hundreds of thousands of barrels of Russian oil are headed to Cuba, in a test of Washington’s embargo on the island nation.
Tighter US restrictions on crude shipments to Cuba have led to the worst crisis in generations, forcing swaths of the island’s economy to shut due to a lack of energy; many are now riding bicycles to get around as fuel pumps run dry.
It is not clear whether Washington will allow the ship carrying Russian crude to dock, but regardless, reprieve for Cuba would not be immediate: Refining the oil to produce fuels would take up to 30 days. And in any case, the Trump administration has vowed to see through its bid to replace Havana’s Communist regime.
